1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hand tool for use in fastening snap fasteners and more particularly to an inexpensive, compact, integrated, multi-directional hand-held device for use in positioning a female snap member proximate a corresponding male snap member to facilitate the positive coupling of the female snap members disposed on heavy fabric-like materials to male snap members disposed on fixed structures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many methods have been devised to attach heavy fabric-like coverings, such as canvas, polyester, leather, and tarpaulin to fixed structures. One method commonly used, for example, in automobile convertible top boots, boat covers, and recreational vehicle coverings, are snap fasteners. These fasteners most usually comprise female snap members located about the periphery of the covering and corresponding male snap members rigidly attached to a fixed structure. The male snap members generally define the open area to be covered by the covering material.
In virtually all such attachment methods using snap fasteners, the users of the coverings have been required to manipulate the covering and snap fasteners by hand. Manipulation by hand, however, is often an arduous and difficult process.
For example, usually both hands of the user or multiple users are required to firmly grasp the covering and/or snap fastener to position and secure the snap fastener. This creates difficulties where the snap fastener may be accessible by only one hand. The tension or resistance to movement of the cover can also make one-handled operations impossible, especially for children, the elderly, or physically impaired individuals. Further, the snap fastener is often beyond the reach of the user, requiring the user to climb upon the fixed structure, or some other nearby structure, generally at great personal risk.
Also, manipulation of the covering and/or snap fastener by hand can contribute to injury of the user's hands or arms. Especially when wet, the covering and/or snap fastener can become quite slippery, causing the hands of the user to abruptly slip away at a moment when great force to the covering is being applied. The effort thus exerted by the user can result in impact of the user's hands or arms into surrounding rigid structures, causing injury.
The prior art contains many disclosures of devices and tools for assisting in the attachment of fasteners. These disclosures generally reveal a hand tool having a handle attached to a shank, where the shank head can be used to pull on the fastener member. However, nowhere in these disclosures is it suggested that the tool could assist the positioning and fastening of a female snap fastener, mounted on a heavy fabric-like covering, to a male snap member mounted on a fixed structure. Although some disclosures do reveal tools that can be used to assist in the fastening of a snap fastener, these tools uniformly fail to disclose a multi-directional hand tool usable by either hand which engages the female snap member along two possible force directions, each force direction within a plane substantially parallel to the plane defined by the surface of the fabric so as to guide it into position under the tension created by the stretched heavy fabric-like covering.